Director of Sales - Grocery, Natural, Specialty

About the role

We’ve built relationships with most of the major national and regional grocers, and now it’s about maximizing the opportunity inside those accounts and building out the long tail. We’re looking for a Director of Sales to own our Grocery, Natural & Specialty (GSN) business, setting strategy across three channels, leading a team of senior account managers, and elevating our relationships with retailer leadership. Reporting to our Chief Sales Officer, you’ll shape how Grüns wins in grocery, with plenty of room to grow as the channel does.

This role is part of our remote HQ! We have a fully remote, high-trust work environment, and we come together twice a year for amazing off-sites where we can connect IRL. This role also requires regular travel (up to ~30%) for key retailer meetings, line reviews, trade shows, and our annual sales offsite.

In this role, you will:

• Own GSN strategy and the annual plan across conventional grocery, natural, and specialty & alt, defining how Grüns wins in grocery through promotional strategy, marketing partnership, and driving trial and repeat
• Maximize the opportunity within our existing accounts with a “grow the core” mindset: core distribution first, LTOs over evergreen, and innovation only where it earns its place
• Build the plan for the long tail of smaller grocers: decide where to play, choose the right broker or distributor for each, and build the tools and processes to scale coverage without multiplying effort
• Lead and develop three senior account managers (grocery, natural, and specialty & alt), setting clear standards and coaching them into independent account leaders. You’ll decide where to stay hands-on with key national accounts and where to let the team lead
• Build relationships with retailer directors and VPs, wiring the account upward while your team partners with buyers and category managers, and moving conversations from status updates to partnership
• Own the channel P&L, holding the line on contribution margin, promo depth, slotting, and markdown protection
• Lead broker accountability (KPIs, scorecards, playbooks) and own contract negotiation, RFPs, and distributor strategy
• Build specialty & alt from the ground up: prove a repeatable model, decide where to play, direct vs. distributor, and where to walk away
• Partner with Ops, Marketing, Finance, and Sales Insights to build an operating cadence so launches, displays, and promos land on time

We're looking for someone who:

• Has 10+ years of CPG sales experience, including 3+ years leading account managers or sales leaders
• Has conventional grocery experience at the HQ level. Natural and/or specialty experience (C-store, military, travel, sporting goods) is a strong plus
• Has operated in a fragmented channel with dozens of customers, and knows how to scale themselves and their team across travel, line reviews, and shared tools and resources
• Has owned P&L across multiple retail accounts, including trade investment, promotional ROI, slotting, and contribution margin management
• Has hands-on experience managing brokers and distributors: holding brokers to KPIs, negotiating UNFI/KeHE-type agreements, and running broker or distributor RFPs
• Has a track record owning senior buyer relationships and leading JBPs, line reviews, and resets for a growing or challenger brand
• Brings executive presence, with the ability to hold the room with retailer leadership and our executive team
• Has built new channels or accounts without an existing playbook, and made the call on direct vs. distributor routes
• Turns syndicated, retailer, and distributor data (SPINS, Circana/Nielsen, Numerator) into clear decisions, and is highly proficient in Excel/PowerPoint or Google Sheets/Slides. Comfort using AI tools to speed up analysis and planning is a plus

Approach to the role:

• Runs the channel like a CEO: owns strategy, relationships, and outcomes across three channels at once
• A people-first leader who develops a senior team without lowering the bar, and spends their time on strategy, coaching, and relationships at the top of the retailer
• A fierce negotiator who isn’t intimidated by the biggest retailers and distributors and holds the margin line
• A builder who is comfortable with ambiguity, makes clear go/no-go calls in net-new channels, and turns data into a story buyers and leadership can act on
• Passionate about health and nutrition, curious, resourceful, and ambitious to grow into more scope as the channel proves out

Compensation & Benefits:

At Grüns, we're committed to providing a competitive total compensation package — grounded in market data that considers our size, stage, industry, and location. For this role, the base salary range is $160,000-$200,000 plus bonus + incentive compensation depending on experience, paired with a comprehensive benefits package designed to support the well-being and growth of our team.